Home prices rose in the third quarter at their slowest pace since 1998, and were essentially flat when adjusted for inflation, according to a government price index released yesterday.
The data suggest that prices, especially for the existing single-family homes that the index focuses on, continue to weaken across much of the country and particularly in formerly hot coastal markets. Nationally, prices rose 0.86 percent from the second quarter and 7.73 percent from the third quarter of 2005.
Prices fell in five states, including New York and Massachusetts, and in 15 of California’s 25 metropolitan areas, the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight reported. Nationally, prices declined for the third quarter in 92 of 379 metropolitan areas, up from 87 in the second quarter.
“We have a pretty clear evidence — if anyone was confused about it — that prices have decelerated in most parts of the country,” said Patrick J. Lawler, chief economist for the agency, which oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the large mortgage buyers. “But we are not looking at a bubble bursting across the country.”
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